At the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, Colby Covington and Joaquin Buckley locked horns inside the Octagon at UFC Tampa/UFC on ESPN 63. For ‘Chaos’, the return to action after his heartbreaking loss against Leon Edwards at UFC 296 was a shot at regaining his momentum. But standing in his way was ‘New Mansa’, who had other plans. From the first bell, Buckley’s precision felt like a scalpel, carving through Covington’s defenses. A sharp blow early in the fight left Covington with a nasty gash on his right eyebrow and it kept getting worse as the fight went on.

Yet, true to his moniker, Covington refused to falter amidst the chaos. What happened next had fans on the edge of their seats, but one man in Covington’s corner couldn’t sit still. Chael Sonnen, a UFC legend, found himself at a crossroads. He recently shared what was going through his mind while he watched the fight unfold.

Chael Sonnen confesses he was ready to throw in the towel to protect Colby Covington 

In a clip shared on his Instagram account, Chael Sonnen confessed, “I was going to stop that fight. I already grabbed the towel, and I literally, I stood up so I could see what the doctor was doing, I said, ‘Hand me that towel I’m stopping this’. And Colby looked so dog tough, Buckley did too.”

The UFC legend had joined Colby Covington’s camp for this fight as a head coach after the former interim welterweight champion had been out for a year since his UFC 296 loss to ‘Rocky’. In an interview before the fight, Covington had confessed, “We have a whole new team around me, and it centers around this guy right here, he’s the head coach, he’s the boss man and whatever he says goes…” talking about Sonnen’s role in his camp.

But even an optimal preparation with a UFC legend was seemingly not enough, as Sonnen went on to share, “Colby was getting hit on his feet with everything you could do. I mean he’s busted open so bad the doctor has to look at it three times. The tide of that match was turning and Colby did have a few things to prove to everybody including himself.”

The blows Covington absorbed were not just routine punches—they were bone-rattling. Sonnen recounted a body shot so loud it echoed through the arena. “Boom,” he said, vividly painting the impact. But what stunned him most was the welterweight star’s resilience. Despite the battering, the fighter never winced, never showed an ounce of quit. Even when he slipped on the mat, it wasn’t a strike that caused it. Sonnen clarified, “There was a time he went down, it wasn’t from a punch. There was a punch as he slipped as he went down…”

But for the UFC veteran, it wasn’t just about what the crowd saw; it was about the grit Covington displayed. Why? He confessed, “When you look at the grit meter, this was one of Colby’s best fights.”

Still, the tide of the match had turned decisively. Buckley’s precision and power overwhelmed Covington. The doctor took one last look at the cut and made the inevitable decision. The fight was over at the end of the third round and ‘New Mansa’ emerged victorious. Colby Covington, however, walked away with a different kind of accolade: respect. The fight may not have gone his way, but Chael Sonnen’s perspective adds a layer of depth to the narrative. But would the fight have been stopped if it was held somewhere other than Tampa, Florida? The UFC head honcho thinks so!

Dana White believes Covington vs Buckley would not have been stopped in Las Vegas  

The aftermath of UFC Tampa left plenty to dissect, but UFC CEO Dana White had his own take on the doctor stoppage that ended Colby Covington’s night. ‘Chaos’, known for his unrelenting toughness, wasn’t his usual fiery self when the fight was called. White noticed this shift, observing at the post-fight press conference, “It was definitely bothering him, and as soon as the corner would fix it, he would walk back out and rips it open again and makes it start bleeding again. That alone tells you that the cut was bothering him big time.”

For White, the doctor’s decision may have been fair in Tampa, but he believes a different venue might have told a different story. Why? The UFC boss further shared, “No doubt that was a bad cut, but that fight doesn’t get stopped in Vegas. That fight keeps going in Vegas – 100 percent (it would’ve kept going).”

Despite his critique, White acknowledged Colby Covington’s warrior spirit. The shots Buckley landed weren’t for the faint of heart. Head or body, each strike could’ve ended most fighters’ nights. Covington may not have left the Octagon with a win, but he left with a story that spoke volumes about his resilience. For Chael Sonnen, the sight of ‘Chaos’ enduring bone-rattling blows was both inspiring and heart-wrenching.

Yet, the conversation doesn’t end with Covington’s toughness. Dana White’s remarks about the venue’s role in the stoppage raise compelling questions. Would the fight have continued in Nevada, where leniency often prevails? Or was the doctor’s decision in Tampa a necessary call to protect a fighter who refused to back down? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!